Take action: No drilling near Chaco Canyon

Docket number: 2020-04111

Chaco Canyon is one of the most important cultural sites in the National Park System. It's also an International Dark Sky Park -- beloved by stargazers for its pristine dark skies full of constellations -- and a sanctuary for elk, bobcats, badgers, bats, lizards and other desert wildlife that thrive in the dark and away from development.

More than 91 percent of the federal land around Chaco is already leased to oil and gas operations. And the development has already taken a toll on the health of the land and surrounding communities. So much methane has been released as a result of these operations that a methane cloud the size of Delaware looms overhead.

We can't allow even more drilling on the doorstep of this priceless place. I oppose plans to expand drilling closer to Chaco Canyon, and urge the Bureau of Land Management to adopt a moratorium on oil and gas leasing on federal land within 10 miles of the park.